Shiller adjusted the pain pump back to normal. Luther lay on the hospital bed for a while, gazing at the flickering gaps in the ceiling. After some time, he spoke, "Not long ago, someone sent me an email... "
Twenty minutes later, Shiller walked out of the ward and closed the door behind him. Natasha had been waiting outside for some time. She asked, "How is it? That guy is tough to deal with, isn't he?"
Shiller gave her a look, the meaning in his eyes was "Why do you say that?"
"Superman just went over a list of the bad things Luther has done with me," Natasha said, frowning slightly. "Even with just a few words, you can see how cautious he is, practically leaving no loopholes. Interrogating someone like that is very difficult."
"Yes, ordinary interrogation methods don't work."
"So what method did you use?"
"Civilized law enforcement," Shiller replied.
"What?"
"Making good use of medical enforcement methods in modern human civilization."
"Speak plainly."
"Morphine."
The two walked into the office and sat down face to face at a table. Shiller removed the law enforcement recorder and placed it aside, then opened his phone to show Natasha some photos he had taken.
"What's this?"
"Luther showed me the inbox of his private email," Shiller said, looking at the pictures on his phone. "Not long ago, he received an anonymous email that inspired him to establish the Atlantic Economic Policy Reserve Fund."
Natasha frowned and said, "I remember that the person who attacked me also received an email."
"Yes, and none of the emails can trace back to their source," Shiller said, shaking his phone. "This includes Luther's email. This proves that the other party is not only unafraid of the technical means of law enforcement agencies but also those of the Luther Group. This is quite peculiar."
"The other party must be a skilled hacker," Natasha said. "Unfortunately, in this universe, we don't have an electronic butler like Jarvis to monitor every move on the internet. Otherwise, we could certainly catch him."
"That's exactly what we need to think about," Shiller said. "The backstage manipulator targeting you proves he knows something about you. If he knows something about you, he might also know about your origin universe and possibly even know about Jarvis. If Batman could bring you over, it's possible to bring Jarvis over as well. So why is he confident he won't be discovered?"
Natasha hadn't considered this angle. She said, "Most people underestimate Jarvis. A lot of people just know him as an electronic life form, the electronic butler of the former Stark Group, but they don't have a concept of how strong he is. Maybe the backstage manipulator is the same."
"So from this, we can deduce, what's the biggest difference between you and Jarvis?"
Shiller's line of thought was a bit disjointed, and Natasha didn't immediately catch on. But soon she realized, "I'm not much different from other universes' Black Widows, whether in appearance or ability. I can't say there's a fundamental difference between me and them. But Jarvis is different; there isn't a Jarvis in other universes—or at least not like Jarvis."
"Yes, in other universes, Jarvis has become Vision, and in most universes, Vision doesn't have such strong control over networks. The electronic life form part of him has almost disappeared. You are very similar to other universes' Black Widows, but Jarvis is very different from other universes' Jarvis. That's the difference between you two."
"The backstage manipulator is targeting you because they know Black Widow is formidable; they adopted this electronic intrusion method because they don't understand how formidable Jarvis is. From this, we can infer they can't be from your universe; otherwise, they'd consider you might seek Jarvis. If that were the case, they wouldn't use online methods like emails to manipulate others. They're more likely to have contacted other universes' Black Widows through the Battleworld, recognized you, and then targeted you."
"Good, if they're not from my universe," Natasha said, relieved. "But how did they recognize me? I mean, since coming here, I haven't done any public missions. Where did they see me?"
"That's also a critical question," Shiller said. "Luther told me that the backstage manipulator hinted in an email that if Luther united the power holders of the East Coast financial industry to oppose the new policy, President Wayne might resort to extreme measures. He was warned to watch out for the people around Wayne."
"So Luther bribed the head of information security to use camera number 14 to capture my face?"
"No, he didn't bribe the head of information security. Instead, the person sending him emails asked him to provide flaws related to Wayne. So they sent him that photo and revealed your name."
"Not surprising," Natasha said, leaning back into the chair. "If Luther is indeed very cunning, he couldn't have been entirely manipulated by the person in the email. Their relationship is more like a transaction: Luther established the fund as mentioned, and in return, the other side had to assist him."
"That's right. They had a cooperative relationship."
"So, does that mean the death of the information security department head was orchestrated by the backstage manipulator who sent the email?"
"It's possible. Moreover, they attempted to frame Luther by using the dispute between the Abidonis couple before their deaths, since the cause of their argument was the fund established by Luther. It won't be long before the little girl reveals this to the police. Even if it can't serve as evidence, it could provoke public suspicion against the Luther Group."
"That's quite clever," Natasha couldn't help but exclaim. "First, they collaborated with Luther to establish the fund, then made Luther request assistance to tarnish Wayne Enterprises and the President's reputation using me. Then they eliminated the department head who provided the photo, framing the Luther Group to harm its reputation. If no one discovered all this, both Wayne Enterprises and the Luther Group would suspect the other was responsible, leading to a bitter feud."
"Yes. Batman hasn't made a move against the Luther Group; he's just waiting for an opportunity. With this happening, it's difficult for both sides to delay any further. Either Batman will step down, or Luther will be ousted."
"Is the backstage manipulator's goal to provoke a deadly conflict between the two sides?"
"Yes, the Luther Group is a tough nut to crack. If Batman has to crack it now, he'd likely suffer significant injuries. If handled carelessly, it could impact Metropolis' livelihood, something Superman wouldn't want. The backstage manipulator is doing everything to weaken Batman's faction."
"Wait, could there also be something fishy about Wonder Woman's case?"